Stationary chemical fire-engine.



B. B. SIGAFOOS; STATIONARY CHEMICAL FIRE ENGINE.

' A umio med Aug. 2a, 1900.

Patented Feb. 4 I902.

No Model.)

I Jlfiu THE Nonms min: ca, PHOTO-LEM. Wgsumulou. o, c. i

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RUSSEL BIGELOlV SIGAFOOS, RACINE, WISCONSlN.

STATIONA RY CHEMICAL FIRE-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 692,724, dated February4, 1902.

Application filed August 22, 1900. Serial No. 27.742. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, RUSSEL BIGELow SIG- AFOOS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Racine, in the county of Racine and State ofWisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inStationary Chemical Fire-Engines, of which the following is aspecification.

The object of this invention is to provide a stationary chemicalfire-engine. A feature peculiar to nearly all stationary chemicalfireengines is that since they are stationary the chemical solution,owing to its density, will settle to the bottom of the tank or cylinderin which it is contained and when brought into use the cylinders aremade to revolve or turned in sucha manner as to change its normalcondition, and when they are of the revolving type the cylinder usuallyrevolves only half-way around, so that the volume of the liquid oralkali solution used therein ,remains in the bottom only partiallydisturbed. As the cylinder thusturns the liquid is agitated but verylittle, if any. Consequently the action of the chemicalsor acid on thealkali is slow and unsatisfactory. In order to overcome this objection,which is well found ed, I have constructed an engine with a view offully meeting the difficulties and acquiring a quicker and more vigorousaction of the chemicals and also means whereby the agitation willcontinue automatically for a limited time until the elements arethoroughly united, as will now be set forth in detail.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view, partly in section, of myimproved chemical fire-engine; and Fig. 2 is an end view, partly 'in"section, with a view of the operating-box and connecting-hose and reel.

I construct a cylindrical tank or cylinder 3 of any desired-capacity, onthe ends of which are trunnions, upon which the cylinder may be turnedfor the'purpose of inverting the acid-receptacles. The acid in thereceptacles are thus thrown into the alkali solution contained in thecylinder. One of the trun nions 4 is hollow and is provided with apacking-box 5, through which the discharge-pipe 6 is placed, the innerend of this pipe being curved downwardly, as at 7, and provided with astrainer-head 8, which is located near is imparted to the cylinder.

pendent on the size of the cylinder. "longitudinally disposed strips orshelves the bottom of the cylinder, so that as much as possible of theliquid in the cylinder will be withdrawn by this pipe. The othertrunnion'9 has thereon at its projecting end a sprocket-wheel 10, bymeans of which motion In this cylinder are placed long strips ofsuitable metal 11, running lengthwise with the tank, varying in widthaccording to the size of the tank, and any suitable number may beemployed, de-

These serve to push, lift, or stir the volume of liquid which isembraced in their dimonsions as the tank is revolved, thus pouring overtheir surfaces the dense liquid in the bottom, thoroughly mixing it asit moves to and fro. An annular brake is made in the strips to permitthe downturned end of the pipe 7 to approach the shell as closely aspossible, as shown in Fig. 1. These shelves are secured to the shell ofthe cylinder by means of suitable legs 12 in sufficient number to securestrength, each strip having its edge a short distance from the shell ofthe cylinder, so as to provide a space beneath each strip, by whichmeans a portion of the liquid will flow beneath and 'move anyaccumulation of the alkali .or sediment in the bottom at or near thestrips, thus assisting materially in the agitation of the solution andpreventing any remaining at the bottom undisturbed. The cylinder has oneor more hand-heads 13, to which are attached inte-' riorly theacid-receptacles, (indicated by dot- I ted lines 30in Fig. 2,) but asthey form no part of the present invention are not described. The tankthus constructed is mounted or suspended on a suitable frame let, ofwood or iron, giving it sufficient clearance from the ground and sidesof the cylinder whereby the latter can be revolved without interference.On the top of the frame is a horizontal shaft 15, parallel with the axisof the cylinder 33, on which is mounted at one end, directly above thesprocket-wheel10, alarger sprocket-wheel 16, which is preferably doublethe diameter of the sprocket-wheel 10, the purpose being that when theupper sprocket-wheel is revolved one-quarter turn the lower one willturn halfway around or sufficiently far to fully turn Ice the cylinderwhen the upper sprocket-wheel makes a half-revolution. To this shaft 15,containing the upper sprocket-wheel, is attached alever 17 with a fixedconnection, said lever being of such length as to clear the floor whenswinging past the end of the frame. On this lever, which may be termed apendulum, is placed or attached in any suitable manner iron weights 18of sufficient size and number to overbalance the weight of thecylinderand its contents. This pendulum, with the attached weights,rests in a horizontal position upon the end of the trip-bar 19 when thetank is in an inactive position. When, therefore, the trip-bar 19releases the pendulum by being withdrawn, the weights l8 swing thependulum downwardly and transmit power to the sprocket-wheels 16 10through the intermediate sprocket-chain 20, and thus turns the cylinder3, and as the pendulum swings past a Vertical position it continues tooscillate back and forth until it becomes stationary by force ofgravity. By this means of keeping the cylinder in motion for a limitedtime I thoroughly agitate the contents of the tank, the strips withinserving to disturb the contents while this oscillating movement takesplace.

A vertical lever 22 is hinged to the side of the frame directly behindthe rear end of the trip-bar and so connected with the trip-bar thatwhen the upper end of the lever 22 is thrown back the bar 19 will bewithdrawn from beneath the pendulum 17. The upper end of the lever 22 isoperated by a cable 23, which extends to the operating-boxes 24, locatedthroughout the building.

Each operating-box has a handle 25 for operating the trip-bar, a handle26 for ringing the gong 27, and a handle 28 for throwing open the valve29, which supplies the extinguishing fluid through the pipe 6,leadingfrom the cylinder 3. I

It will be observed that I do not attach any tripping or catch device tothe cylinder or any portion thereof, but operate entirely upon theweighted pendulum.

It will be understood that I do not claim in this invention any portionof the operative system set forth in the application Serial No. 23,917,in which an engine of this character is used.

WVhat I claim as new is- 1. In a stationary chemical fire-engine, thecombination of a cylindrical shell fitted on trunnions, and adapted torevolve, one of the trunnions being hollow and having a stationarydischarge-pipe therein curved downwardly and extending to the bottom ofthe cylinder, and receptacles within the upper side of said cylinder,and a series of narrow longitudinal shelves, with their sides radiallydisposed andlocated a short distance from the wall of the cylinder andhaving an annular break in the shelves to providea path for thestationary discharge-pipe, as set forth.

2. In a stationary chemical fire-engine, a cylindrical shell fitted ontrunnions in a frame and adapted to revolve, having connections at oneend with a discharge-pipe, and provided with means for generatingpressure and agitating the chemicals, in combination with a shaft on theupper end of the frame, said shaft having at one end a lever projectingtherefrom horizontally when in its normal position, said lever havingWeights thereon, a sprocket-wheel on the trunnion of the cylinder and asprocket-wheel on the upper shaft in alinement and connected by a chain,and means for tripping said weighted lever, substantially as set forth.

3. In a stationary chemical fire-engine, a cylindrical shell adapted torevolve; the interior having longitudinally-disposed strips andacid-receptacles, a small sprocket-wheel on the shaft at one end and ashaft above carrying a larger sprocket-wheel and a connectingsprocket-chain, and a weighted triplever or pendulum secured to saidupper shaft, normally held in a horizontal position and adapted tooscillate when released from its normal position.

4:. In a stationary chemical fire-engine, a cylindrical shell forcontaining and generating chemicals, having at one end a sprocketwheel,in combination with an upper shaft having a larger sprocket-Wheelthereon, and a connecting-chain between the two wheels, a weighted leversecured to the end of the upper shaft to serve as a pendulum, said 1everresting normally on the end of a horizontal trip-bar, and a trip-leverconnected with said trip-bar and hinged to the frame, said trip-leverbeing operated by a cable extending from the operating-boxes in abuilding, substantially as shown.

5. In a stationary chemical fire-engine, the combination of a frame, acylinder horizontally mounted therein on trunnions and adapted torevolve, one trunnion being hollow and havinga discharge-pipe leadingtherefrom, the other trunnion having thereon a'sprocketwheel theinterior of the cylinder having acidreceptacles and agitating-strips, ahorizontal shaft above the cylinder, having at one end a sprocket-wheelin alinement with the lower sprocket wheel, and connecting chain, aweighted lever on the end of the upper shaft, a trip-baron which saidlever rests, and a triplever for operating said bar, substantially asshown.

Signed at Racine, in the county of Racine and State of Wisconsin, this22d day of June, A. D. 1900.

RUSSEL BIGELOW SIGAFOOS.

Witnesses:

C. D. VAREL, J. H. MORGAN.

